Eric Bolling and Charlie Sykes Clash in Tense ‘Morning Joe’ Battle Over the Soul of the GOP

WATCH: Eric Bolling and Charlie Sykes Clash in Tense Morning JoeBattle Over the Soul of the GOP (Mediaite)

On Morning Joe Tuesday, for the second day in a row, the Weekly Standard‘s Charlie Sykes faced off against CRTV’s Eric Bolling, formerly of Fox News. The topic, once again: Donald Trump as moral and political leader of the GOP.

Sykes argued in his column that the position conservative critics of Trump have taken, which is “calling balls and strikes,” is equally as damaging as the total embrace that base voters have offered Trump. Co-host Willie Geist began the segment by quoting the article at length.

“When the stakes are low, itemizing and compartmentalizing may be sensible,” wrote Sykes, in the portion that Geist quoted. “But given the enormity of the stakes, placing a gold star on the president’s occasional successful assignment is unwarranted and unwise. The road to Hell is paved with a piecemeal, situational approach to morality.”